Microfluidics refers to the design and use of fluid systems in which at least one dimension is smaller than 1 mm. Fluid flow in microfluids systems can be characterized as either laminar or turbulent. Turbulent flow is chaotic on a small scale, such as tap water turned on at full blast. Laminar flow consists of fluid flowing in layers in which the velocity at a given time and place is invariant under steady-state conditions. Due to the small size of microfluidic systems, laminar flow predominates. A key aspect that contributes to both the advantages and disadvantages of laminar flow is the absence of convective transport between adjacent layers of fluid. This lack of convection poses clear problems in terms of successful on-chip mixing, after leading to non-diffuse or poorly mixed solutions.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages and problems in the prior art.